Friday, April 26, 2013

The boat had not been washed for several weeks so it was greatly overdue, plus we had visitors in the afternoon and we wanted Fleetwing to look ship-shape. The anti-ICW mustache treatment (two coats of Fleetwax) is gradually wearing off after 8 months of motoring up and down the ICW but it has held up pretty well until now. So a treatment of On/Off on the back got rid of that brown stain and a regular wash of the topsides finished the job (a Sharman 3 or 4 rating out of 10 I would imagine...) Fleetwing hasn't looked this good since Key West.

Hoolie is always the center of attention when we go out walking

Walking Hoolie always results in admirers gathering to pet him. When we visit places we've been before, the comments run, "Oh I remember now, you're the couple with the Brittany" We feel second fiddle. Hoolie is more memorable than we are!

On another note, when we met the couple many years ago who owned the previous boat we had, the first Fleetwing, a 38 foot Ericson sailboat, the standing joke was, "What are you having for dinner?" The reply from the previous Ericson owner's wife was , "Reservations!" The conversation with Dan Martin and his wife turned to what we typically had for dinner. We have a freezer the equal of what we have at home but the refrigerator is much smaller. Ann enjoys cooking a fine meal and I enjoy eating it!

I walked within a foot of these two - no flinching at all

Ann is a fan of Jacques Pepin and his two best sellers, "Fast Food My Way" and the sequel "More Fast Food My Way" The recipes are relatively short but always tasty - I love everything Ann cooks from the books. As a supplement, she also uses "Cooking Light" which has a monthly magazine format. As a backstop, she uses "The Essential Pepin" which has hundreds of recipes. With those resources, she puts out fantastic meals from the galley that includes a three burner, propane stove and an oven. A microwave supplements the cooking requirements (usually rice) and an ample supply of spices.

Typical meal prepared by Ann for the Captain

For example, for dinner tonight Ann prepared Panko-Crusted Cod with Tomato-Basil Relish from Cooking Light. We had green beans on the side along with a potato salad with red wine vinegar, parsley and red pepper. When we eat in, most meals are like this, it's better than I can get at most restaurants. We had fresh grouper the other night and a fish sandwich with all the fixings the night before, great eating.

We'll be here one more day and see if we can stock up on some bargains before heading north again on Sunday through the Rock Pile.